


Dragonsblood and Gold

by singingwithoutwords



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Abuse, Alpha Bucky Barnes, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, Beta Steve Rogers, Domestic Violence, Dragons, Dubious Consent, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Omega Tony Stark, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Protective Steve Rogers, also there will be obscene amounts of platonic cuddling, but the bad kind, just a heads-up, there is a good chance at least four of your faves will wander into the story at some point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-06-07 17:15:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6816130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singingwithoutwords/pseuds/singingwithoutwords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marriage sucks just as much as Tony thought it would- his husband is jealous, paranoid, obsessed with him, and not nearly as smart as he thinks he is.  Too bad he’s stuck, with no way to escape.</p>
<p>Until he gets a dragon.</p>
<p>Things start looking better right about then.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Is anyone surprised that I've found yet another way to be mean to Tony Stark?

Tony said his marriage vows in a tightly controlled monotone, eyes cast downward, focused on where his hands joined with his new husband's.  Justin's grip was hard, grinding slightly against the joints of Tony's fingers, but his hands themselves were soft.  They weren't rough and tanned like Tony's; they were pale and manicured, with no real callous to them.  Justin might oversee a large and productive estate, but he left the running of it to more capable parties and kept himself in luxury, and it showed in his hands.

Tony supposed his mind should be on the ceremony, but honestly there wasn't much he needed to pay attention to.  His vows were just repeats of Justin's with a slight change of wording – obey instead of command, serve instead of protect, that sort of thing – and that was really his only active part.  Once he finished and the priest took up a lecture on the duties of marriage, all Tony really had to do was stand there and try not to fidget under the hot summer sun.

The priest finally wound down and gave them permission to kiss, to the background noise of polite applause.  No cheering or hollering from the kingdom's elite- they had to be proper and aloof even on what was supposed to be the happiest day of Tony's life.

Justin kept the kiss light and short, thank the gods, and Tony was able to escape the altar and Justin's grasp.  Justin had congratulations to accept and business to talk with Howard, and nobody needed an omega hanging around when there were alpha things to be done.  Instead, Tony got to vanish with his fellow omegas to 'prepare for the wedding night'.

It was rare for an omega of Tony's station to marry for love.  More likely, they were traded into marriages that benefited their parents, used for pleasure and show and forgotten otherwise.  Preparation consisted mainly of tips on how to get the wedding night over with, as quickly and painlessly as possible, and how to bring on his next heat quickly so Justin could bond to him properly and start leaving him alone.  Cynical, maybe, but better than empty assurances that he'd come to love Justin in time, or any of that bullshit.

 

* * *

 

Tony technically had his own suite of rooms, since the manor dated back to a time when all marriages among the nobility were purely political and no one bothered pretending an omega actually  _ wanted  _ to spend time with their owner.  That suite adjoined Justin’s, connected by a door between the bedrooms.  Tony wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that apparently no one had bothered installing a hall door in the omega suite yet, but hopefully he’d be able to do that himself with a minimum of fuss.

It wasn’t proper to invite anyone into the omega suite, however - apparently even other omegas being in there was an affront to Justin’s honor or something - so they set up camp in the alpha suite’s sitting room.  It was a bit of a tight fit, since everyone of note had turned up (omega or not, Tony was still a Stark, and nobody was going to miss his wedding), but they managed.  And without their alphas around to glare, a couch designed for three could easily fit five or six; omegas tended to revel in close contact with other omegas, and didn’t really bother with things like personal space unless they were made to.  Tony wound up in a plush reading chair with Janet curled into the space at his side and T’challa perched on the chair’s arm.

Janet van Dyne was a tiny omega with a bright smile who’d married far below her station and kept her birth name in the bargain.  She and Tony were lifelong friends, and there was little doubt that if either of them had been even a beta, they’d have been married to each other.  She was the setter of every fashion trend for the past decade or so, and one of the most cheerful and upbeat people Tony knew.

T’challa was visiting from Wakanda, where he was king and equal to his alpha queen Ororo. Tony had never met him before today, and he was difficult to read, but he got the impression T’challa was more amused than offended by the way the local alphas talked down to him.  Neither he nor Queen Ororo had objected when he’d been pointedly shuffled off with the rest of them, just given each other knowing smiles and a parting kiss.

Sam, one of the dragonriders from the local eyrie, had sprawled himself in the other reading chair, with another dragonrider Tony hadn’t met before sprawled across him.  Half the omegas squished onto the couches were also dragonriders.  Justin’s estate was less than an hour’s walk from the eyrie, and it would have been social suicide not to issue a general invitation to the only omegas in the kingdom no alpha would dare talk down to, if only because they rode giant over-protective fire-breathing dragons.

Rhodey, the only dragonrider present who was not from the local eyrie, let out a satisfied groan from where he was squished between the arm of the couch and Lady Sue Storm.  “Sweet gods, I wanna live here,” he muttered, snorting when Sue shifted and flopped over him like a human blanket.

Rhodey was based at the Lackland Eyrie, along the southmost border of Stark lands.  He and Tony had known each other almost as long as Tony had known Janet, and Tony had never doubted for a moment that Rhodey would be attending his wedding, no matter which alpha Howard decided to dump him on.  His dragon Jacosta was currently sunning herself along the west wall of Justin’s keep, probably drawing a crowd and enjoying every moment of it.

“We can trade,” Tony offered.  “I’ll take your dragon, and you can be married to Justin.”

Rhodey made a face.  “Never mind- this couch isn’t  _ that _ comfy.”

Janet giggled into Tony’s shoulder.

“You’re all awful,” Sue said, but she was smiling, too.  “Justin isn’t  _ that  _ bad.”

“Says the lady being courted by a prince,” Tony couldn’t help but point out.

It was Sue’s turn to make a face.  “I would gladly trade Victor for Justin.  At least I know what Justin looks like.”

“Now who’s awful?” Rhodey demanded, nudging Sue in the side, and their end of the couch devolved into poking, tickling, and giggles.

Tony smiled, snuggling a little closer to Janet.  The Stark estate was fairly isolated, the manor a long way from Lackland Eyrie, so he wasn’t often around so many omegas at once.  It made a nice change from alphas whose every waking moment was a power play of some sort, and being so close to LeHigh Eyrie, he might actually be able to manage regular visits.  With no war on, no one could claim he was being a distraction, and there was no reason for Justin to forbid it.  It would be nice not to spend all his time locked in a metaphorical tower to protect his ‘honor’.  Like he hadn’t already gotten rid of  _ that  _ with a stablehand when he was 15.

But really, he could get used to this.

“All right, you two,” Matt said from the other end of the couch.  He wasn’t physically very old or very imposing, but he was a senior dragonrider and one of the few to have fought in and survived the battle of Hell’s Kitchen, so he was highly respected both within the eyries and without.  Rhodey and Sue both stopped immediately and settled down.  “Thank you.  Sam?”

Sam squirmed into a slightly more upright position to a string of disgruntled noises from the dragonrider on top of him.  “Okay.  We all know that if anyone in this room - or on this planet - does  _ not _ need The Talk, it’s Tony Stark.  So mainly we came along because… look, we know Justin.  We’ve had way more contact with the greasy weasel than we’d like.  So we just want you to know, if things get bad, you’re always welcome at the eyrie.  Always.  Any time of day.”

Which meant that they thought Tony might have reason to run away in the middle of the night.  Given what Tony knew of Justin, having eavesdropped on his dealings with Howard from time to time, it seemed unlikely, but he couldn’t discount it.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said.  “Thanks.”

“You’re also welcome if you’re just bored,” Sam added with a slight smile.  “Omegas gotta stick together, after all.”

Yeah, Tony could  _ definitely _ get used to this.

 

* * *

 

The other omegas left one by one as the afternoon faded into evening, until Tony found himself alone in Justin's sitting room with only the too-slow ticking of the massive clock in the corner to keep him company.  He sighed, shedding most of his formal gear, and stretched out on the larger couch to wait.

He was considering taking the damn clock apart and fixing whatever was wrong with it when he heard heavy footsteps in the hall and the door opened, dumping an obviously drunk Justin into the room.

“There you are!” Justin exclaimed brightly, fumbling his jacket off and tossing it in the general direction of a chair.  “I've been looking for you.”

“I've been right here,” Tony said, hauling himself off the couch.  If Justin was this drunk, hopefully he'd pass out as soon as he fell into bed.  “Come on, let's get you horizontal.”

Justin grinned, stumbling across the carpet and grabbing Tony's wrist.  Up close, he absolutely  _ reeked _ of wine.  “Eager, huh?  I like that in an omega.”

Tony fought the urge to punch Justin with his free hand, instead trying to nudge him toward the bedroom.  “Yeah, sure.”

Justin somehow managed not to fall flat on his face the short distance to the bedroom and the bed, sitting heavily on the edge of the mattress.  Tony got him out of his vest and shirt and knelt to get his shoes off without thinking.  Justin obviously got the wrong idea, though, because Tony had barely touched the laces when he felt fingers tangle in his hair and yank his head up.

“You wanna use your mouth on me?” Justin asked, clearly delighted.  “Wanna choke on my dick before I make you mine?”

Tony winced, hissing under his breath.  “That hurts,” he snapped, but he knew better than to actually try and break Justin's grip.  “Let go of me.”

Justin frowned, his delight melting into confusion.  “You don't tell me what to do.”

“You're hurting me,” Tony repeated, shifting to try and lessen the pull on his scalp.  “If you want me to suck you off, fine, just let go of me.”

Justin let go of Tony's hair, then immediately backhanded Tony hard enough to knock him off his knees and onto the floor.

The night went downhill from there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really gotta start thanking the lovely QueerBluenoser for all the help she gives me on basically everything I write. I would update even slower if not for her. Thank you, my love!

Tony woke the next morning with a black eye and bruises on his hips and waist. The head of staff assigned a maid to fuss over him and see to his every need; she was an older beta named Bambi, steady and earthy-smelling, and Tony decided he really liked her.  She got him settled into the omega suite along with his belongings, sent over from Howard’s manor; he was disappointed but not exactly surprised to discover most of his notes and all his heavy equipment were missing.  He was married now, he was supposed to focus on more appropriate hobbies for an omega.  Knitting or something.

Well, Justin should let him have a workshop, if only because he’d have legal ownership of anything Tony made or designed.

Justin left before dawn on the second day of their marriage; he left a note with the head of staff for Tony saying he had business to attend to elsewhere and would be back in a week, which was how Tony actually met the head of staff.

Her name was Pepper and she was an alpha - the only alpha in the manor Tony had met so far, aside from Justin - with a sharp-edged scent that spoke of control and discipline, which matched her crisply professional manner and conservative wardrobe.  She had long ginger hair and kind eyes, and Tony wouldn’t have minded being married off to her, really.  She obviously had a wit as sharp as her scent and a tongue to match, and it took less than five minutes for it to become evident she was perfectly capable of not only holding her own with Tony, but maybe even besting him if she put her mind to it.

Tony loved her immediately.

The rest of the household was all betas.  Not unheard-of, but still unusual; most nobles kept at least a few omegas on staff, if only as decoration.  Justin especially seemed like the sort of alpha who surrounded himself with omegas in a pathetically transparent attempt to look progressive.

Not that Tony had any problem at all with betas.  He preferred them to alphas, more often than not; betas didn’t tend to take any sort of physical contact as a come-on.  Sure, _some_ betas couldn’t take a hint if you slapped them across the face with one, but the percentage wasn’t nearly as high as it was with alphas.  Give him betas any day.

Pepper was a busy woman, since she obviously did all the running of Justin’s estate for him, and Tony’s wandering took him across her path several times over the course of the day.  Tony had no idea what an alpha like her was doing working for Justin, but he figured he should be grateful he hadn’t been wedded into a failing empire and probably just stay out of her way.

Exploring his new home occupied Tony well enough for the first day, but by noon of the second day, he was bored out of his mind.  An attempt to retrace his exploratory route through the estate only ate up a few hours and didn’t alleviate his boredom at all; it just left him frustrated, too.

Luckily, yesterday turned out to not be a fluke, because Pepper was once again seemingly everywhere.  This time she seemed to be armed with a thick stack of lists that had her muttering to herself as Tony fell into step beside her.

“Master Anthony,” Pepper greeted him without looking up from the top list in her stack.  “What can I do for you?”

“You could call me Tony,” Tony said.  “Like I asked you to yesterday.  At least fifty-seven times.”

“Four times,” she corrected absently.  “And if it truly bothers you, I suppose I can.”

Tony grinned, at least in part because he could tell she was struggling not to smile.  “Also I was wondering if you know where I can get my hands on some tools.”

“May I ask what for?”

“I wanna put a hall door in my suite.” It still creeped him out a bit that there wasn’t one to begin with; it made the suite seem a lot like a prison.

“I’m sorry, but Lord Hammer specifically forbade installing another exit to the omega suite,” she said, sounding genuinely apologetic as she reordered her list pile.  “I wouldn’t recommended taking it up with him, either, but you at least have the freedom to do that much.”

Tony sighed, nodding.  “Okay, so did he specifically forbid putting an inside lock on the door I _do_ have?”

Pepper paused in her shuffling of lists to meet his eyes, and there was blatant sympathy in her expression.  “He specifically forbade any alterations to the omega suite without his permission.”

Tony had to admit he was a bit surprised by that.  Even Howard had been okay with Tony fixing up his own spaces to suit him, just as long as it didn’t interfere with Howard’s Very Important Business.  Seemed a bit paranoid to Tony, but then he didn’t live in Justin’s head- maybe it made sense to him.  Maybe it was an alpha thing.

Either way, it sucked.

“There go my plans for the day, then,” Tony said, shrugging.

“I’m sorry,” Pepper said.

“What about a workshop?” he asked.  “He has to let me have one of those, right?”

She nodded, going back to her lists.  “The top two floors of the north watchtower have been set aside for you, and are currently being altered to suit.  It should be ready in two or three days, but Lord Hammer instructed you weren’t allowed to use it until his return.”

Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair.  “So is there anything I _am_ allowed to do around here?”

“You’ve been forbidden from calling on any estates without Lord Hammer or an escort picked by him, but there are no such conditions for visiting the eyrie,” she said.  “It’s only fifteen minutes on horseback, and certainly not an unsafe place for a newly-wedded omega.”

 

* * *

 

Eyries differed vastly in appearance and structure, taking advantage of whatever nature had to offer in the area of dragon housing.  Tony had visited quite a few of them, both before presenting (as Howard’s heir) and after presenting (as an omega Howard didn’t trust home alone).  Hamilton Eyrie, before its destruction, had been an island fortress protected by the ocean on all sides, with sturdy stone buildings for individual lairs.  Hawthorne was hidden in a series of massive caves in the desert cliffside, unreachable except by dragonback.  At least two eyries were based in dormant volcanoes.  Wakanda’s sole eyrie was on a wide plateau with lairs that were little more than roofs on thick posts.

LeHigh Eyrie spread in an orderly half-oval outward from the central complex, set far enough back from the beach to avoid flooding during storms, but close enough that the water was within easy walking distance of most of the lairs.  It resembled a fair-sized village more than an eyrie, if one could ignore the dragons sunning on rooftops and the large open spaces next to their lairs.

Horses couldn’t be forced too close to such a large concentration of dragons, of course.  There was a waystation of sorts where Tony could leave his mount and walk the remaining half mile or so to the central complex.

The central complex was comprised of the administrative building - which dealt with things like buying food and overseeing the staff necessary to keep the place clean and running - the storage buildings, the guest quarters, and the den.

Dens tended to pop up in any place with a large concentration of omegas.  Nobles discouraged them as undignified, but most villages had one, towns usually had several, and eyries usually had at least one on account of all dragonriders being omegas.  They were public buildings, comfortably furnished, where omegas were expected and encouraged to invade each other’s personal spaces.  They were usually strictly alpha-free zones, but rules on betas tended to vary.

Tony made straight for the den.  Riders who didn’t have other things they needed to be doing spent a lot of time in dens, which meant it was his best bet to find someone to show him around.  And barring that, it would at least be a good place to relax.

LeHigh’s den was one huge round room, with a wide walkway around the sunken center, full of low couches and piles of cushions that looked perfect for flopping.  Just like the sitting room on his wedding day, the air was suffused with the scent of omegas, this time without the underlying scent of alpha mixed in.  Tony took a deep breath, hunting for even a hint of beta, but there was none.  Apparently LeHigh Eyrie took the sanctity of the den seriously.

A handful of riders were scattered throughout the massive room, in little groupings of two and three.  They all looked - and smelled - very content, and Tony felt himself relaxing.  He’d never felt so at home in his actual home.

He stepped down into the comfort pit, scanning those riders he could see for familiar faces.  Theoretically, he should be able to approach any rider regardless of if he personally knew them or not.  Thanks to his early upbringing as dictated by Howard “there’s no way any son of mine isn’t going to be an alpha” Stark, however, theory did not translate well into practice.

A laugh caught his attention and he turned toward it, spotting Sam sprawled across one of the couches, talking to a tall woman with short blonde hair and a wide smile.  Sam was angled so Tony couldn’t see him very well, but the woman was facing him.  He recognized her as Carol Danvers immediately, though he hadn’t seen her in years.

Carol was the LeHigh Flight Captain, in charge of and responsible for every dragon and rider in the eyrie, and Tony had known her almost as long as he’d known Jan.

Carol looked up, her eyes catching Tony’s.  Her smile vanished as she stepped around Sam’s couch and bore down on Tony like an avalanche, grabbing his chin and tilting his head to better display his black eye.  “Did Hammer do that to you?”

The Danvers family was nowhere near as noble or wealthy as the Starks, but still wealthy and noble enough that, if she hadn’t bonded to a dragon, Carol would have eventually found herself in the same position as Tony.  She knew how things stood, and there was no point lying to her.

“Yeah.  Apparently, he doesn’t like being told what to do.”

Carol snorted indelicately, letting go of Tony’s chin to ruffle his hair familiarly.  “You can say that again.”

Tony laughed, batting at her hand in mock indignation.  “Hey, I’m a married omega now- what will people say?”

“That you could do better,” Carol replied seriously as Sam finally made his way over to them.  “And while we’re on the subject: I know Sam extended an invitation; I’d like to affirm it.  You’re welcome here.  Any time, any reason.  I mean that.”

Granted, Carol had been a lot younger when she and Tony had last gotten together, but he didn’t remember her being quite so alarmist.  “I appreciate the invitation,” he said.  “Doubt I’ll need it, but I appreciate it.”

“Tony,” Carol said, sighing with something that skirted the line between exasperation and flat-out frustration, “We deal with Hammer all the time.  I personally have to meet with the slime once a month.  And more importantly, we deal with his people.  The people he doesn’t have to put up a front for.  The people who see what he is when he isn’t trying to impress.  He is not a good man, and I plan to protect you from him in any way I can.”

“That’s sweet of you, Captain,” Tony said, and he meant it.  “Just don’t stick your neck too far out- he does kind of own me.”

Sam made a distressed noise.  “C’mon, just because you’re married doesn’t mean he _owns_ you.”

“Unfortunately, it does,” Carol said, sighing.  “At that level of society, it’s as much a business transaction as a wedding, if not more so.”

“Definitely more so,” Tony agreed.  “It’s pretty obvious Howard isn’t siring any more little geniuses- the only way to secure his legacy is through selling me off.”

“That is messed up,” Sam said, shaking his head.  “Never thought I’d be _glad_ I grew up dirt poor.”

“This is depressing,” Tony announced.  “No more depressing.  Someone give me a tour.”

Sam laughed, throwing an arm around Tony’s shoulders and steering him back toward the walkway.  “We can start in my lair.  I’ll introduce you to Redwing.”

 

* * *

 

Redwing was, of course, Sam’s dragon.  Unsurprisingly, his wings were as red as the name implied- brick red on top and along his back and face, shading down to mottled tan underneath, and he stood out vividly against the pale beige sand on which he was very busy sunbathing.

There was another dragon next to Redwing, smaller and darker, with scales that shimmered deep purple and black, and there was a person sprawled across its back.  Sam grabbed a pillow as they passed the couch and lobbed it at the person, managing to hit the side of their head and startle them into falling off.  The purple and black dragon lifted its head, glanced over at the person now on the floor next to it, then set its head back down and went right back to sleep.

“You are such an asshole!” drifted up from beyond the dragons, followed by a string of absentminded curses and some scuffling.

The rider who rounded the dragons was one of the most built omegas Tony had ever seen, with muscle mass to rival any alpha and arms that looked like they could bend good steel.  He had short hair a sandy sort of blond/brown, warm grey eyes, and a wide smile.  He also had the pillow Sam had thrown at him in his hand, which he threw right back at Sam, catching him in the chest.

“Asshole,” the rider accused again.

“My lair,” Sam countered, tossing the pillow back on the couch.  “I do what I want to trespassers.”

“It’s not my fault Redwing and Hawkeye are in love,” he said, shrugging, before turning to Tony.  “You must be Stark.  Sorry I missed your wedding, nobles give me hives.”

Tony laughed.  “You build up an immunity after a decade or two,” he said.  “It requires constant exposure and is very not worth it.  Call me Tony.  Pretend I’m normal.”

“Clint.  I’m Hawkeye’s rider.”

“And my frequent unwanted guest,” Sam added.  “I’m giving our new neighbor the tour- since you’re so eager for my company, you can join us.”

Clint groaned.  “ _Such_ an asshole,” he said once more.  “See if I ever hunt for you again.”

Sam grinned, tossing one arm around Clint’s shoulders and the other around Tony’s, pulling them both close.  “Let’s leave the dragons in peace,” he suggested, steering them both back out the door.


End file.
